She's Back
by riah alice drake
Summary: KansasWolf time again :) What I think would happen when two enemies meet up again. Work in progress and all suggestions are welcome :)
1. She's Back

"My lunch is over." Ruby pouted noticing the pointed yet soft glare her grandmother was sending her way.

"Mind if I stick around for a little while longer anyway?" Dorothy wondered brushing a stray lock of her wolf's hair back behind her ear as she leaned closer to her lover across the table.

"You better," Ruby answered leaning into the tender caressing touch "That way I have a reason to come back out of the back room." she joked dryly as she dragged herself up from her seat when she saw another of Granny's eyebrow raised glances out of the corner of her eye as Granny tapped a finger to her watch in an unneeded reminder.

Dorothy bit her lip to keep from laughing at the exchange turning in her seat to watch the two wolves bickered quietly to each other from across the half-full diner. "I thought you had to work now Wolfie?" the Emerald City hero pointed out when instead of going back to work like she was meant to her wolf sat back down defiantly in their booth again. Right on Dorothy's lap.

Neither woman really cared about the lovestruck spectacle they were making of themselves in plain view of the filled diner.

Not that any of the customers minded seeing as all of the loyal regulars enjoyed seeing their favorite waitress so genially happy and in love.

Those who did mind wisely kept their mouths shut for fear of upsetting the elderly woman who handles their food and who they all knew doesn't hesitate when it comes to using the loaded crossbow she keeps under the lunch counter.

"I'm on a break," Ruby answered childishly looking back into her girlfriend's eyes as she settled in comfortably with her back pressed against Dorothy's front as they sat together stretched out in the small corner booth.

"How about you stay here for five more minutes" Dorothy bargained softly pressing her lips against Ruby's ear as she caught Widow Lucas's eye as the diner owner took another lunch order. "then back to work so Granny doesn't think I'm a bad influence on you?" she finished in a stage whisper sending the motherly woman a teasing wink as she wrapped her arms around Red's waist from behind.

"twenty." Ruby prompted sharing a genuine smile with her grandmother when she noticed Granny rolling her eyes at their playful banter.

"You've got ten Red." Granny cut in from the other side of the diner talking louder so that Dorothy could hear has well "argue and its back to five." she added in feigned annoyance when Red gave her a pouting glare from the cocoon of her lover's arms.

"Say thanks, Ruby." Dorothy prompted softly biting down on the shell of Red's ear as she hugged her girlfriend tightly against her chest while their legs tangled together over the side of the booth.

"Thanks, Ruby." Red parroted obediently making a few of the diner patrons, Granny and Dorothy chuckle at the loud, distracted and breathy tone of the waitress's answer.

"Humm, stop now or I'm not going to be held responsible for my actions." Ruby whimpered tilting her head back against Dorothy's shoulder when her hero started scratching behind her ear like she does for the wolf during nights they snuggle together during a full moon.

The comment earned a challenging groan from the woman holding her as Red stole another French fry from her lover's lunch plate on the table beside them, so she could keep the low pleading moan from slipping out under Dorothy's affectionate attention.

"That's not what you were saying last night Wolfie." Dorothy reminded her coolly dropping her voice so any eavesdroppers (other than the older wolf busying herself behind the lunch counter) couldn't hear her. "Last night you weren't doing that there Kansas," Red answered hoarsely as her eyes glazed over at the memory. "We were alone and in bed then Wolfie." Dorothy smiled in agreement as her teasing fingers stopped massaging the known weak spot in the soft skin behind Ruby's ear causing her lover to let out a wonton squeak of annoyance at the loss.

The chiming bell above the door had just finished sounding before the quiet of the diner was split with a loud yelping bark startling most of the customers at his appearance while completely bursting Ruby and Dorothy's loving happy snuggle bubble at the same time.

"What the hell are you doing here you flea-ridden mutt?" an all too familiar voice groaned as the little terrier raced out from under their table barking angrily at the diner's newest customers.

"Sis come on." Regina sighed at the same time Dorothy and Ruby both stood up and slid out of the booth in the same fluid motion. One to come to the defense of her dog and the other wanting to protect the woman she loved.

"He's just being a good lookout as always." Dorothy snapped hotly ignoring Ruby's tightening grip on there still joined hands when she stepped around her wolf to get a better look at her former enemy.

Everyone in the diner stopped whatever they were doing turning as one to watch the unfolding scene with rapt attention as the former Wicked Witch's eyes slid from the dog quietly growling at her feet to his owner.

"You..." Zelena gasped when her eyes locked with Dorothy's hardened gaze.

"Surprised?" Dorothy laughed her eyebrow-raising in amusement as Toto returned to her side while her former nemesis continued to gape at her in stunned shock. "You..." Zelena repeated still blinking rapidly as if doing so would eventually make the hero disappear.

"Don't even think about it." Ruby snarled articulating each word as she pulled Dorothy behind her again when Zelena took a shaking step closer to them.

"Alright..." Regina offered forcing herself in between the pair still locked in their own quiet glaring match. "Let's all take a breath?" she suggested feeling a shiver of unease at being the peacemaker (again) as she looked between the angry werewolf and her equally annoyed half-sister.

"She's right." Dorothy piped up glancing around at the watching attention of the rest of the diner. "Besides we need to get back to work." she continued leaning into her wolf's shoulder bringing her lips to the growling wolf's ear without taking her eyes away from the witch still trying to intimidate the couple.

"You don t want to do this." Dorothy reminded her seething lover fighting down her own emotions at seeing the woman who made it her mission to destroy her life for years as she focused on calming the hot-blooded wolf that held her heart.

"Come on Wolfie." she beckoned wrapping her free arm around Ruby's waist still holding Red's hand tightly as she backed them up. Navigating them both blindly around tables and people as she dragged the waitress into the backroom.

Granny wasn't far behind them her eyes shining in prideful astonishment at the way her granddaughter's true love handled the delicate encounter.

"You know if you do want a job here all you had to do was ask." the elder woman chuckled as the door swung shut at her back.

Dorothy managed a weak smile in return loosening her hold on the young she-wolf. "I might take you up on that later, thank you," she answered shyly trying to get some feeling back into the hand that had been held in a vice by her girlfriend not minutes before.

"Nope. Wolfie stay." Dorothy ordered trying to keep her voice low as her free hand wrapped in restraint around her girlfriend's wrist when Ruby tried to slide past between her and Granny to go back into the front of the diner. "You're too upset to go out there and if you keep this up you're going to give yourself a stomach ache."

* * *

"Here you go," Granny told them with a low growl as she set their orders down in front of them.

"Thanks, Granny, " Regina smiled kindly earning the smallest hint of a smile from the restaurant owner in return. "You're wel..." Granny started to say but was cut off by a bitter "What is little miss slipper stealer so terrified of me she couldn't even find the courage to serve my lunch?" from Zelena.

"I didn't steal them," Dorothy answered curtly as she finished cleaning off another table on the other side of the diner. "You gave them to me." she sighed balancing the container of dirty dishes against her hip as she turned to face their table. "Well I would but your not in my section." she smiled cheekily.

"I'm the only one that can sit in your section Kansas." Ruby corrected pausing in the act of taking another order to its owner. "Your section is all mine," she added still talking just loud enough for only Dorothy to hear ending her flirtatious teasing with a sly wink when Dorothy's glassy eyes met hers.

"Enjoy your meal, Regina." Granny smiled purposely ignoring the double meaning of the whispered remarks now burning in her ears as she turned away from Zelena's bitter glare at being ignored to head back into the kitchen to get more lunch orders.


	2. Du Du Dummm

"Get your paws off me or I'm roasting them off," Zelena ordered when Ruby's hand wrapped painfully around her wrist pulling the witch toward her hard over the counter when she and Regina stepped up to pay their bill.

"The Toll Bridge at Sundown." the wolf proposed coldly her hot breath burning past Zelena's ear as she was shoved back away from the register with a forced "Hope to see you again." that everyone in the diner knew was only said out of professional courtesy than anything else.

"You can count on it," Zelena commented rocking back on her heels to steady herself with a small tilt of her head in acknowledgment of the whispered ultimatum taking the crumpled receipt slip Ruby was holding out to her along with her change and walking out like she didn't have a care in the world.


	3. Christmas Comes Early

_**Writer Note: (Sorry in advance I'm still working on writing fight scenes. I hope you still enjoy this chapter regardless of how horribly I transcribe it from my brain to the real world.)**_

"Huh, and here I thought you'd have run away with your tail between your legs by now." Zelena chuckled pushing herself away from the front bumper of her car as Ruby emerged from the treeline bordering the start of the bridge. "No training wheels tonight?" she commented her eyebrow raised when she noticed that the wolf wasn't sporting that signature cape.

Ruby smiled her eyes glancing up at the darkening sky overhead. "No full moon. No need," she said conversationally looking back at the only other person on the bridge. "Unless you want to forfeit n..." the wolf mused breaking off quickly as she flipped herself over the side of the bridge when Zelena hurled a fireball at her.

"You have to do better than that witch," Red called unable to resist taunting her as she rolled back to her feet as fast as she could after splashing down hard into the shallow creek below. The force of the landing was definitely going to leave bruises on her legs come morning but the chill of the water and the adrenaline already coursing in her blood dulled any pain as the human-wolf slipped her way toward the water's edge.

"What's that matter dog can't take the heat?" Zelena yelled grinning proudly at the loud shout of pain from the retreating wolf when one of her fireballs connected with Ruby's shoulder before she hit the cover of the tree line.

Red gritted her teeth against the pain. She shook her head feeling the fire burning her hair while she hastily scrambled out of her jacket letting it drop into the wet rocks behind her as she dove head first between the trees narrowly avoiding twisting her ankle on a tree root along the way.

"Come out come out where ever you are." Zelena goaded sauntering in-between the trees like she owned the place while her fingertips glowed with more magical fire. "I hope you don't intend to get me to spill all my plans for making your lover girl's life hell." the witch called "Although, I have to say seeing her face when she finds your charded corpse will be the best thing ever." she laughed

Ruby was sure she was going to split her lip in half by the end of the night from her efforts to keep quiet at the threats to her mate. The cool night air blowing in the trees around her was the only thing keeping her anger in check as she pulled the ties of her makeshift bandage (the torn unburned sleeve of her shirt) tighter with her teeth ignoring the strain it put on the burn running from her bicep to her shoulder on her left side while she took stalk of her surroundings.

The forest was darkening rapidly now but thanks to the wolf Ruby could easily track Zelena's movements from her hiding place, watching smugly when the witch walked right past her while she kept rambling on about how now thanks to Ruby's own blinding overprotective nature she would be able to finally take Dorothy down once and for all.

"And you said you wouldn't be monologuing?" Ruby laughed making Zelena spin around in surprise as she dropped silently from the tree over her head. Ruby bit back a hiss at the lightning strikes of pain in both her legs from the landing but pushed past it as she glared over at her target, "I don't think so." Red scolded when Zelena stretched out her hand. A red-hot fireball already waiting in her palm. But this time the wolf was ready for her already swinging the thick tree branch she'd brought down with her as hard as she could at her prey's head knocking the other woman into a nearby sapling from the force of the connecting blow.

Ruby grinned wider at the unfocused look on the villain's face when Zelena tried to stand leaning heavily against the tree to steady herself when her legs folded under her. "Now unlike you, I won't kill you," Ruby confessed tossing the splintered stick in her hand back to the ground at their feet. "I'll just leave you here in the dark with that concussion and let you find your own way back into town." the wolf promised turning her back on the villain for the first time since they had started their face off.

Even with her double vision, Zelena surged forward tackling the retreating wolf by sheer luck. Red gasped taken off guard as the adrenaline from before faded allowing the pain and fatigue set in all setting the stage for the witch to get her arm around the wolf's neck in a tight chock hold as they both fell back to the forest floor. "Hope your last moments together were worth dying for." Zelena hissed against Ruby's ear. Her senses assaulted with the smell of the burnt vanilla and strawberry mix of the human wolf's hair as she tightened the pressure around the trapped woman's throat.

Red's mind was acting on autopilot as her lungs burned with the need for air. Her elbow drove back awkwardly in an attempt to give her some kind of slack around her neck. "Al...ways..." Ruby choked catching the witch in the middle of her chest the blow wasn't as hard as Red wanted but it was enough to catch the witch by surprise long enough for her to twist herself out of Zelena's grip. The tiering wolf dragged herself back to her full hight her legs and chest burning in white-hot pain from the effort as she gulped in deep lung fulls of the chilly night air blinking away the dark spots from her vision.

"Silly little stray," Zelena grunted rolling up on her hands and knees with her palms pressed flat against the forest floor. Before Ruby could do more than open her mouth her reply changed into a howl of pure agony as the tree branch finished driving itself through her right leg just under the joint of her knee while another impaled her already injured left shoulder from behind adding, even more, sault to her already mind-numbing agony.

"Did you really think you could ever defeat me just by giving me a concussion?" the Wicked Witch taunted icily enjoying the wolf's muffled whimpers while the dark sorceress used her magic to have the tree drag her victim back against its trunk holding her in place while she thought over the best way to end the wolf's life once and for all.

Ruby's eyes slipped closed willing all her pain, fatigue and discomfort to the back of her mind only by will as she focused her thoughts only on the happiness she'd felt earlier the previous day cuddling and joking with the woman she loved.

If she was being honest the wolf would swear that she could even hear Dorothy's soft tone now over the sound of another one of her pain-filled yells into the cold night air.

"Let her go now Zelena, or I swear the next one I'm putting right between your eyes."

The order was confusing to her when the image behind her eyes was the inviting gleam in her lover's bright eyes coupled with that sexy and teasing smile Dorothy always gives her in the warm afterglow the last time they'd made love but Ruby's wasn't about to dwell too much on what her true love was saying just that she was able to hear her headstrong hero's voice in her ears one last time before she lost herself to the overwhelming amount of pain shocking her system.


	4. The In Between

The phantom-like scents of a smoky cornfield, the woodsy musk of dog fur, more of the inviting smell of some vanilla mixed body wash and...sailen?

The smell of tears confused her but the others provided a much welcome distraction from her current state. The aromas also added to the one from the anchoring something that was still rhythmically taunting her into staying when every other part of her begged to leave the growing waves of pain for the soothing nothingness of unconsciousness. The only problem with giving in every time the pain worsened was her curiosity to know what that comforting pulsing was that was now nestled against her chest.

"Guess you didn't hear her when Blue talked about how you really shouldn't be sleeping in the same bed as her patient?"

Okay, maybe she should have gone with the darkness. At least there she wouldn't have to deal with the unbearably loud cannon blasts assaulting the wolf's hearing.

"I heard but also ignoring...and not sleeping." her bed mate lied clearly fighting sleep. "I'm angry cuddling until she wakes up so she can hear me when I yell at her again." Dorothy yawned snuggling more against Red's side.

Yeap, Ruby definitely should have picked the dark when she had the chance seeing as now she was going to die from even closer growls bursting her eardrums. That is if the stinging red of the sun didn't rost her eyes completely out of her skull first. "Hang on..." her sleepy tones mate yawned before the volume of everything (mercifully) dropped and the burn from the light reduced to a low dull glow behind her eyelids.

"Erm...are...are those...? Really aviators and earmuffs?" Granny chuckled her tone somewhere between shock and amusement while the younger wolf was busy concluding that since now her ears and her eyes were safe it seemed her end was going to come from the crushing warmth now tightening around her waist.

"Had Snow bring them." her tormenter turned savior said innocently. "Thought Wolfie could use 'em. Least until she gets 'handle on wolf half 'gain." Dorothy finished her head now pillowed against Red's shoulder.

"You know." Granny sighed setting down beside the bed. "I hadn't even thought about her wolf," she admitted reached over to the control at her shoulder turning the overhead light in the room off while she talked but Ruby ignored her grandmother's words focusing her senses on the rhythm of her true love's heartbeat to lull her back to more healing rest while Dorothy snuggled closer again and did the same.

* * *

Her anchor was gone the next time she pushed her way back to consciousness. Its calming beat replaced by the soft scraping and clicking of knitting needles. "Where is she?" Her voice was like sandpaper from lack of use but thankfully her companion could still hear the question as Ruby's eyes opened slowly. "The Witch is still recovering from your girl's two bolt shots to her arms and speaking of Dorothy's still working the rest of her anger out in the mines where Leroy and the others can keep an eye on her," Granny answered wordlessly bringing the water cup up to her granddaughter's lips.

"Already broken at least six axes last count since Blue wouldn't let her back in to see you until she's calmer and word is she's even given Grumpy and possibly even the pirate a run for his money in curse words." she summarized.

"Huh. Never thought I'd miss angry cuddles this much." Ruby sulked once she sipped enough water to dull the rough feeling in her throat. "Don't worry she'll make you forget soon enough." her grandmother warned before the bed dipped as Toto jumped up resting a paw on Ruby's chest his dark eyes boring into the wolfs as if assuring himself she was, in fact, awake before he jumped down and raced out of the room at an all-out sprint. "Told yeah." Granny chuckled watching the little dog fondly.


	5. Du Du Dummm pt 2 (aka KW reunion)

Toto didn't stop or even slow down as he raced around the corner into the mines running headlong toward his owner but Dorothy was already running as well her borrowed ax forgotten behind her as she paused just long enough to scoop up her dog as she raced out of the mines running faster than she had even on the night she'd found out too late that her true love had gone to the toll bridge to have it out with her worst enemy.

Dorothy didn't even slow down as she burst into the convent in a blur of blue, black and gray finally letting Toto down so the little dog could run along behind her this time as she skidded into the doorway of her true love's room.

The problem...Ruby wasn't there.

"Oh come on." Dorothy groaned bitterly dropping herself onto the rumpled sheets and blankets while she caught her breath.

"I told her you'd still be upset." Dorothy looked up at the joking tone in Granny's voice noting how calm the older woman "She's fine just a little stiff. But considering what could have happened if she didn't have such fast healing thanks to the wolf and us getting her here to the fairies so quickly she's lucky," she continued seeing the worry in Dorothy's eyes but rambling on a bit at the end only earning agreeing nodes from her granddaughter's true love. "She's in the showers right now," she finished when the worry in Dorothy's eyes turned to curiosity as she looked around the room.

"Bet she's even listening in on us right now." Dorothy mused stretching out on the bed with a low comfortable groan when she realized just how sore her body was from working so hard in the mines. "No, if she's listening to anyone it's you." Granny corrected with a knowing smile. "No cause if she had then none of this would have happened." Dorothy countered her former anger returning while she waited impatiently for her wolf to come back to her again. "I mean I get that she's protective and all 'cause her wolf but come on I almost lost her to Zelena once and then she had to go and pull this?" she groaned saying the same thing she had when it had been Ruby in the bed.

"Sshh." Granny adviced suddenly hastening to close the door as she slid inside. The elder wolf only held a finger to her lips with a small smile to quiet her while her other hand tapped at her ear quietly when Dorothy tried to ask what was going on.

"Well did you warn David before you took the apple from Regina?" Ruby growled defiantly her voice seeming to echo from somewhere close by "no don't answer that. Look I'm sorry I brought it up but you didn't hear her when she was taunting her Snow." the wolf went on "Yeah low blow Red, but you know Dorothy could stick up for herself you didn't have to do..." Snow jumped in but Ruby cut her off "But she was talking just like she had been back in the underworld right after she showed us she'd cured her Snow. How was I just supposed to let that go?"

Dorothy's eyes hardened at the blunt question her heart rate spiking at the reminder of the reason she'd nearly lost her wolf a second time. "Well walking away and not let her get to you is really effective." the Emerald City hero commented before she could stop herself. The conversation outside the room stopped and both Dorothy and Granny knew Ruby and possibly Snow was a statue at the coldness of the suggestion.

The door handle turned slowly sending more of the icy tension out into the hall even when Dorothy had turned her gaze to the ceiling rather than the door. "But what do I know right? It's not like I've had to deal with her gabs for half my life. I'm just a nobody farm girl from the backwoods no man's land of the Kansas prairies." Dorothy sighed still pointedly talking to the ceiling with her hands now resting behind her head. "Dorothy." Snow started when it was clear Ruby was too nervous to speak but the burning glare the younger woman sent her was enough to frighten the royal and former bandit into silence in a way that not even Regina's best murderous looks could even hope to achieve.

"But you know what the really funny thing is Toto?" Dorothy starts over returning to counting the panels of the stones above her head again only letting one hand slid from under her head to rub tenderly in her dog's fur once the terrier had decided to risk joining her up on the bed. "It's that when a woman finally did manage to rip my heart out it wasn't that green-skinned witch." she laughed without the slightest hint of humor but the other three could all tell she was blinking back tears by now.

"I was trying to protect you." Ruby whispered finally finding her voice at last, "Well you didn't." Dorothy snapped "besides you didn't even stop to think that maybe Zelena set up all that taunting 'cause she knew it would get to you so you'd be such a beautiful idiot and do something like that stupid stunt?"

"Have to admit it is like vilian stuff 101." Granny slipped in but only earned an eye roll from all the other three. "And that the resulting fight would end with your heart in her hands?" Dorothy finished. "Thanks for the confidence bust," Ruby muttered finally entering the room to cross to the dresser for fresh clothes. "That's not even close to a busting babe you were unconscious for those." Dorothy corrected sliding up the mattress so her back was resting against the headboard with her leg bent in front of her so her arm could rest across her knee.

"I heard most of them don't worry." Ruby shot back clinching her jaw shut against the painful pull in both her legs from her healing wounds as she walked and the annoying pull in her shoulder as she tugged her shirt over her head. Dorothy sighed pushing herself up from the bed waving off both Snow and Granny when the other women made to help. "I yelled so you'd wake up and tell me to stop," she grumbled swatting Red's hands away from the edge of the shirt so she could finish pulling it on for her herself. "you know letting someone hear a voice they know helps when said person is knocked out and recovering from massive blood loss cause they wouldn't listen to true loves when she said to just ignore the woman who has the power to both light people on fire and literally rip hearts out."

"We've established what she can do you don't need to keep bringing it up." Snow suggested sharing a pained look with Granny while Dorothy finished helping Ruby into her jeans. "For the record, I deserved to be yelled at but just you being in the same town let alone the same room with me so you could yell at me helped me wake up." Red rambled wrapping her arms around Dorothy's waist. "You're lucky I can translate you." Dorothy answered harshly still trying to be angry while inwardly reveling in the fact that Ruby was awake.


	6. Scoldings and Showers

"Out of one house arrest and into another huh?" Ruby sighed when Snow finished unlocking the apartment door leading the way inside. "That wasn't house arrest it was you unconscious and badly hurt for no good reason so keep complaining and I'm sleeping over there tonight." Dorothy warned pointing over toward the couch as she and Granny helped her limp over the threshold.

"You feeling safe whenever we're here visiting is a perfect reason for it and I would do it all over again if I had to." Ruby corrected with a low grunt of repressed pain at the double shocks to the healing muscles of her legs.

"Ruby Lucas you remind us about that one more time tonight and I'm letting her switch with me, so she'll be the one taking the second-floor bed." Granny jumped in giving the younger wolf a look over the top of her glasses. "But its true Gran I would, and I wasn't the one that brought it up this time around." Ruby answered defiantly "besides my Kansas can't sleep anywhere but with me." Red pouted tightening the arm she had wrapped around Dorothy's waist as she hobbled past the steps that led up to the second floor of the apartment. "I was promised more angry cuddling."

"So, what was all that you two were doing in the backseat on the ride over here?" Snow wondered curiously noting the eye roll Dorothy gave her as she lowered Ruby onto the bed across from the kitchen. "Annoyed snuggling?" Red offered meekly when she guessed Dorothy wouldn't give an answer. "It's like angry cuddles but that time she wasn't trying to crush my ribs." She elaborated her tone stronger than before when Snow raised an eyebrow obviously wanting a better explanation between the two.

"Was not I like your ribs just like they are." Dorothy corrected dryly earning a happy giggle from the wolf laying out on the bed. "Red I told you before I need a shower." She sighed when Ruby refused to drop her arms from around her waist as Dorothy stood up to move away from her. "and I said you could have taken one at the convent." Red answered nuzzling her face against Dorothy's stomach. "Besides that, didn't stop you before why should it now?" she wondered putting on a hurt expression as she rested her chin against Dorothy's chest as she looked up into her eyes.

"Drop the woman Ruby." Granny ordered without even turning to look at the couple as she and Snow finished unpacking the rest of Ruby's physical therapy equipment for her. Snow bit her lip to keep from smiling when she noticed that Granny's tone was similar to scolding a real puppy and not her full-grown granddaughter. "Drop her." the elder wolf said again still with her back to the pair at the raised platform in the bedroom as Ruby tried to argue holding Dorothy even closer. "Drop." Granny snapped finally turning toward the other room when Red just whimpered and shook her head burrowing the side of her face against Dorothy's chest.

"Just think of it like the wolf trying to butter you up so you wouldn't be as upset with her." Granny suggested when Red turned and was now sulking like a child even down to having the covers pulled over her head while Dorothy paused beside the kitchen island with a silent question in her eyes and her arms full of clean clothes and two large fluffy towels. "Going to take a lot more than her being cute for that," the Ozein answered softly as Snow and Granny both pretended not to see the kiss she pressed against the comforter covering Ruby's head before she crossed over to the bathroom for her shower.


	7. Dreams & Candles

_**Author Note PLEASE READ BEFORE STARTING THIS CHAPTER:**_

 _ **This chapter will be dealing with PTSD triggers and dynamics so PLEASE if this is a touchy subject for you skip this chapter it will not hurt my feelings in any way.**_

 _ **Thank you and if you can handle it thank you again for reading.**_

* * *

She feels like she's been running in lead when she finally forces herself to stop and catch her breath, but has to be close by now. She just has to be.

"Oh, seems we have a guest…. Care to join the party darling?"

The coolness of the tone made her heart freeze in her chest. If anything, she would have preferred a threat to just a casual throwaway comment like that right then as she tripped those last few steps into the clearing.

Mercifully it wasn't to see the woman she loved more than her own life bleeding and beaten and half alive while hanging from a tree.

 _"It's not real."_

No.

It was worse.

It was always worse.

She would have preferred spending her nights trapped in the room of fire screaming until her throat burned as much as the flames licking at her clothes than see the scene now painted in front of her eyes at this moment.

Hell, even letting her uncle commit her would be preferable to this.

 _"It's just a dream."_

One of Zelena's dreams maybe but not ever would she dream up something as horrible as this.

All her breath seemed to leave her lungs in one short gasp as she dropped to her knees beside the one she'd been trying to find running around in the darkness all this time. Too Late…

 _"Baby you saved me."_

How could she even think that **this** is safe when her form seemed to be flickering between woman and wolf like she couldn't hold just one of them over the other in her pain once she'd finally got her rolled over as gently as she could onto her back letting her pillow her head against her lap.

 _"Oh, No..."_

She could hear Zelena's giggling laughter above them when her closing fist around the beating thing in her hand caused the woman now cradled in her arms to let out a pleading whine of fresh agony.

 _"Kansas please…this is all a dream. It's not real."_

This felt pretty real to her and she couldn't do anything to change it.

Letting go meant leaving her to suffer in the cold and alone while lunging up at the cackling woman beside them would mean seeing her heart crushed into powder dust before she'd even gotten within reach.

 _"I'm right here baby. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here with you."_

But she wasn't. She was gone, and all Dorothy could do now was scream out her pain and heartbreak into the cold night around them as she watched the ashen remains spill out from between her own shaking fingers while Zelena's wild laughter filled her ears before the powered pieces of her own heart mixed with Ruby's on the chilly Storybrooke winds as they seeped out from between Zelena's closed fist just as Red's had from Dorothy's.

* * *

Ruby's arms in a loose embrace around her sweat-drenched waist were the only thing keeping her from falling and/or bolting off of the bed in fear, but she could tell even as the worst of the dreams aspects started to fade that Red was doing everything she could to avoid touching her more and risking making it worse.

"H..Hold...me." Dorothy begged pressing herself as close as she could get against her werewolf's chest.

"I got you Kansas." Ruby vowed winding her arms around the shaking woman's middle as Dorothy broke down in the circle of her arms soaking the front her shirt with her tears as she pressed her ear over Ruby's heart needing to hear that comforting rhythm pulsing against her ear first hand before she would even think about calming down.

"But it was me... " Dorothy argued "It was me. She forced me to do it." she cried while fresh tears splashed down onto her clenched hand around the front of Ruby's tank top. "I didn't want to, Wolfie, she made me…. She made me kill…yo" but she stopped herself before she could finish just redoubling her grip around Ruby's waist needing her as close as possible.

Ruby and Granny shared a scared look over the top of Dorothy's head but didn't say anything while one tried again to calm the crying woman in her arms and the other went to get a fresh candle for their bedside table.

The night terrors had started again the first night Red had been cleared to move back into the apartment (once belonging to Snow White herself) that she and Dorothy shared whenever they decided to stay longer than a day or two in town before heading back to Oz. Ruby had heard from Granny that they had really started the night she and Dorothy had brought the unconscious young she-wolf to Blue and the other fairies.

"Emma put up a protection spell around the building before she left sweetie. You're safe. I'm safe. Toto and Granny, we're all safe baby." Ruby told her calmly taking her chances with rubbing smooth circles against Dorothy's back.

Toto looked up at his name crawling closer to them on his belly across the sweat-dampened sheets but stopped before he could actually touch them.

"Get up here you little fluff ball," Dorothy ordered her tone less threatening when she hiccupped a little as she shakily accepted the tissue box Granny held out to her.

"You safe too?" the Kansas native asked weakly her free hand hovering over Granny's worried. "I'm safe too baby girl." the gray-haired woman answered with a kind smile.

"Too Dark in here." Dorothy pouted after a calming breath at the reassurance as she snuggled back into the warmth of Ruby's chest while her little dog circled around in the space between her and Ruby's still tangled legs before laying down with his little head resting against Dorothy's thigh.

"Would it be alright if I turned on the lights and brightened the place up a bit?" Granny offered waiting for Dorothy's agreeing nod before moving to do just that while Dorothy let the combined rhythm of Ruby's heartbeat against her ear and her soothing strokes against her hair to lull her back into a dreamless sleep.


	8. Opening Up

"What's wrong?" Dorothy didn't answer just ducked her head to avoid meeting Ruby's eyes "Don't make me use the pout." She still didn't look up. "Am I being to cling…"

Ruby's only grunted at the pressure when Dorothy's fingers dug into her arms while her legs locked around the wolf hips dragging her closer when she tried to slide away and give her mate some space. "You even think about moving anymore and you'll be taking cold showers alone for the next month." Dorothy threatened making the wolf turn statue like under her. "You can breathe you know." She added dully

"Breathing equals moving and moving equals losing Kansas cuddles." Red corrected but took an over exaggerated deep breath after she finished talking. "Talk to me." The whispered plea against the crown of her head, but it still had the farm girl's heart thumping madly against her ribs.

Dorothy inhaled slowly as if she were choosing her words carefully while her fingers twisted in the hairs at the back of Ruby's neck. "I'm just still getting used to all of this. Even now after being with you all this time." The hero started her voice low and her eyes fixed on a point over the werewolf's shoulder when she finally did look up at her. "Things like true love are the stuff of fairytales to me. Just things put into bedtime stories to make kids happy before they go to sleep at night and that's including before going to Oz that first time. Then after when I knew first hand that magic was real but still believing that someone could actually have the power to break evil curses with just one kiss? Let alone finding a True Love in a complete stranger?" Dorothy shook her head her hair tickling against Ruby's face when she leaned forward so her forehead was resting against the waitress's shoulder "Then you literally walked right into my life with that sexy little smirk of yours and changed everything."

Ruby couldn't hold in the girly giggles clawing their way out of her at the compliment, but Dorothy just pressed a finger to her lips to quiet her. "I'm just scared that something will happen, and I'll wake up to find out that all of this is just some deranged trick of Zelena's to finally destroy me once and for all or a lesser option of waking up to mad doctors trying to electrocute my brain into mush."

A dark predatory growl pressed against the finger she still held against her wolf's chapped kiss-swollen lips, but Ruby didn't make any other sound beyond that one. "I know, I know you wouldn't let that happen but I'm serious. I wouldn't put it past that witch to use my favorite bedtime story against me like this."

"Hang on I'm your what now?" Ruby asked completely caught off guard by the confession her signature cloak falling from her shoulder as she pushed herself up on her arm to look down at the sheepish looking woman cuddled against her on the apartments living room floor.

"Hush and take the complement Wolfie." Dorothy sighed rolling them over until she had the wolf pinned under her again. "The point is is I am finally completely happy for the first time in a really long time and now once again I have Zelena trying to fly in and destroy it one way or another." She summarized. "And since we haven't seen her since that night then I became the reason we break up because I'm too broken with being scared to lose you that I end up pushing you away all on my own." She theorized but fell silent when she noticed the defiant look in Ruby's dark eyes.

Red's smile only widened at the groan Dorothy let out as her fingers slid up her spine under her tank top. "I can think of several reasons I can counter those fears of me letting you push me away." she reminded her mate. "Like what?" Dorothy asked hopefully rolling off of her wolf to head into the kitchen for a bottle of water. "One its almost our first Christmas together, then theirs looking forward to our first New Years kiss together then wondering about how we'll celebrate all the major holidays as the towns most affectionate couple." Ruby listed as the pulled herself up to stretch out her sour muscles in a cool down. "You said you wanted to spend Christmas in Oz this year." Dorothy remembered offering her wolf a drink. "I still do." Red nodded proudly. "As that okay?"

"And pass up a chance to see you running around and getting your fur all covered in the snow?" Dorothy questioned as they both turned as one to look at the door once they heard the key scraping against the lock. "I'm a bit too old to get my fur all snowy but I think Red can have enough fun for the both of us." Granny chuckled only hearing the last bit of their talk but guessing it had to be a good one going by the happy smiles both women were sporting.


	9. Heart to Heart

The whispered question wasn't the one she'd been expecting. Even Granny had stopped mid stitch to listen in from the side chair. "Erm….well I wasn't in a pack for a place in the rank order more to learn to control my wolf and be around people like me." She answered still wondering what brought on such a question.

"Don't look at me she's your mate." Widow Lucas pointed out chuckling louder at the adorably dumbfounded deer in headlights look her granddaughter was giving her as the elder woman kept knitting away on her latest project.

Dorothy only hummed in acknowledgment of the answer. "So, to your wolf Zelena would be like a competing alpha, right?" The country girl curled closer when the name brought out a low growl from somewhere deep in Red's chest under Dorothy's pillowed head. "Mine." Ruby whispered against the crown of her scalp as her arms tightened against the small of her lover's back hugging her closer.

"More like an alpha her wolf knows likes to hurt you." Granny corrected over the calming clicking of her knitting needles. "Don't give me that look Red you've already proven my point for me by even suggesting that little showdown." Her grandmother scolded returning the young wolf's glare with a raised eyebrow. "Mine." Red repeated ignoring the still painful shocks from the healing injury to her shoulder as her muscles locked in anticipation of another fight.

"Ruby." Dorothy huffed pulling her face back toward back down by her chin forcing the young wolf to look at her. "This is adorable but stop trying to protect me from your own grandmother please." She ordered biting her lower lip to keep from smiling at the pouting puppy look her true love was now giving her at her scolding tone.

"I know that you can take care of yourself Kansas, but I just can't help it when that…that woman." Ruby growled pushing herself up onto her elbows to look down at the woman still laying out on top of her with her head pillowed against her stomach.

Dorothy was moving too crawling up until she was totally over the ranting waitress/werewolf pinning her down against the living room floor. Red was fighting back a moan at the dominate move half wishing Granny wasn't sitting guard anymore, so she could just hitch her leg over her lover's hips long enough to show just how suggestive their current position was and hopefully postpone the argument Dorothy was trying to have with her for another day ignoring how the muscles of her arms flexed as her forearms caged in on either side of the trapped wolf's head.

"Just shut up and listen alright?" Dorothy groaned shaking the woman under her back out of her own mind as Dorothy pushed herself away to sit with her back resting against the front of the couch. "You can't just run off and declare war on everyone who wants to or ever has hurt me just like I can't do the same with those who've hurt you no matter how much I want to."

"Neither can you." Dorothy added her eyes casting over to hold Granny's until the elder nodded in quiet submission. "I lost one family because of stunts like that…because of Zelena…and I can't." she stopped shaking her head at the wording letting Ruby cautiously rest her head against the sitting woman's thigh just as Toto was doing the same on her other side after Dorothy stretched her leg out in front of her as if willing her body to relax.

"I am not going to lose this one to her like I lost my first." She tried again her fingers carding therapeutically through the warmth at her sides. Massaging and ruffling Toto's scruff with one and twirling strands of Ruby's hair around her fingers as she hummed appreciatively with the other.

Granny Lucas nodded in agreement answering to both herself and her granddaughter once she and Dorothy noticed that Ruby had already drifted off to sleep under Dorothy's caressing fingers. "You already know the lengths we go to for our family. Protection no matter the cost to ourselves, but I think our methods can stand the change." The gray-haired woman promised draping the freshly knitted half blanket she'd been working on around the younger woman's shoulders as she got up to work out the stiffness in her legs.


End file.
